Zaire

The Republic of Zaire was a state in Central Africa that was led by Joseph-Desire Mobutu from 1971 to 1997, replacing Congo-Leopoldville in the aftermath of the Congo Crisis. Zaire nationalized foreign assets in the country and removed colonial influences, and its anti-communist stance led to the United States supporting the republic during the Cold War. However, the war's end in 1990 led to Mobutu having to form a new republic dominated by cronyism, corruption, and economic mismanagement. In 1997, it was replaced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the First Congo War ended with Mobutu's ouster by Laurent Kabila and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The country had a population of 46,498,539 in 1996, most of them being Christians.